Each year, clubs and teams from around the state send their best 9 agility dog/handler teams to compete in a just-for-fun event called DACOF, or Dog Agility Competition of Florida. This year's event was held in Kissimmee, Florida at the Silver Spurs Rodeo Arena. The DACOF competition consists of five rounds, three on Saturday: Standard (no table), Jumpers (no weaves) and FAST, and two on Sunday: Standard (with table) and Jumpers (with weaves). Teams consist of 9 members, three at each level of Novice, Open and Excellent. The two best scores from each level from each class are used for the team score. We sent one full team and another of 4 members.

Overall Placements in Heights for all Five Rounds Combined:
Monica and Sage: 7th place - Excellent 24"
Karen and Aiden: 6th place - Excellent 20"
Kim and Peyton: 9th place - Open 24"
Jill and LuJack: 7th place - Open 16"
Karen and Sadie: 1st place - Open 12"
Susan and Rosie: 3rd place - Open 12"
Susan and Jack: 4th place - Open Preferred 12"
Monica and Strider: 8th place - Novice 24"
Darlene and Rascal: 5th place - Novice 20"
Barb and Rae: 3rd place - Novice 16"
Laura and Bogie: 2nd place - Novice 12"

Congratulations to all 15 team members and their 18 dogs!

Fron Agility Director, Lisa Graham:
It's hard to express how proud I am of everyone who participated this year. When I gathered the names of all 18 dog and handler teams who wanted to compete this year, I had a choice to make - do we try to "stack the deck" with those dogs that might be able to bring home that 1st place trophy again and then have a second, "left-overs" team, or do we try to split everyone into two teams with the possibility that both teams might do well. After much thought and deliberation, I chose the latter and am very proud of both teams for their amazing finishes.

From those who had competed for several years to the newbies who had never run a FAST course, everyone did their best. The team energy was high and every run was watched and celebrated. Special thanks to Lori Holdren and Christina Hees who volunteered to captain the teams. Lori video-taped almost every run and monitored our progress and Christina organized our worker schedules and made sure at least one SOTC member was available to satisfy our DACOF worker obligation. Special helpers Bill Garst and Karl Hees were awesome as Gate Stewards and really kept the rings moving smoothly.